Conventional guitars, and other stringed instruments, include strings placed under tension which extend at a substantially constant height above a fretboard mounted on the neck of the instrument. In order to produce sounds associated with musical notes, the strings are placed in contact with two critical contact points. The first critical contact point is generally at the nut of the instrument, which in the case of a guitar, is usually arranged on the neck adjacent to the first fret of the fretboard. The second critical contact point is generally at the bridge of the instrument, which is provided on the body beyond an opposing end of the fretboard. The strings are fixed at a distance beyond the critical contact points at the nut and bridge.
Inventors have made efforts to improve the mounted arrangement of strings with respect to nut and bridge critical contact surfaces. For example, in recent years, the inventor of the present invention developed string assemblies including a string and bullet-shaped anchors secured to both ends thereof. That system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,150. The '150 patent also discloses a guitar having a nut assembly and a bridge assembly where a bullet-shaped anchor at one end of the string is secured in a string holder of the nut assembly while a bullet-shaped anchor at the other end of the string is secured in a corresponding saddle of the bridge assembly. While the guitar and associated strings disclosed in the '150 patent represent substantial improvements over the previous state of the prior art, it fails to disclose the use of a two-piece anchor which substantially facilitates manufacture of the string assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,218 discloses an effort to simplify the tuning process of a guitar where strings are provided having a ball affixed at a first end. The strings are sold to a user in that state, and the user then secures a unitary ball at a second position on the string. The '218 patent does not teach the use of a two-piece anchor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,904 also discloses a string having a ball affixed to each end thereof. The strings are affixed to a string holding device beyond the nut critical contact points at one end, and are affixed to slidable members at a second end beyond corresponding bridge critical contact points. There is no disclosure or teaching in the '904 patent for the ball-shaped anchors to include two components.
The prior art does not disclose or teach various aspects of the present invention such as a string assembly including a string and a two-piece anchor.